Monday 30 June 2014

Clint Eastwood Universal Blu Ray Box Set Released in August

Instead of going into detail on this release, I have chosen to paste a comment which I left on Amazon today - I believe it explains my thoughts. Whilst I am of course happy to see these fantastic titles released (the Universal period for me - is just gold dust) I still have some major issues regarding their content. I can't help but fear they may not of been treated with the respect they deserve -

On paper this looks good - I just wonder though how the extras will be - this seems to be the ideal opportunity for Universal to do it properly.... but I'm not holding my breath. I hope they would of tracked down Clint's featurette THE STORYTELLER filmed in 1971, during the making of The Beguiled, The Storyteller is the first Documentary short ever directed by Eastwood. Shot in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, under the Malpaso Production Company, it has a running time of 12 minutes. There is also another featurette made during High Plains Drifter - A MAN NAMED EASTWOOD - another essential piece that should be included in this package...Radio spots, Trailers, TV spots??? Anyone know if there are any commentaries included? There are plenty of Eastwood experts around... authors, biographers? Any stills galleries? I know there is an open ended interview with both Eastwood and MacLaine recorded during the making of TWO MULES FOR SISTER SARA - I know because I have it... Is this to be included? I've never reviewed anything here prior to its release, so I will give it 5 stars simply because I support the release of these movies on the Blu Ray format (Eiger should look wonderful). But, without sounding like a broken record, I know Universal can be lazy. I fear this collection will not feature (other than probably a standard trailer) any of the above extras - but its about time they should. Fans have spent generously over the decades - the Video Cassette - the Laserdisc - the DVD... they're a loyal bunch. I've always looked upon the Blu ray format as a representation of quality - not just in terms of its spec - but also in terms content - the high end choice. However, I think a lot of the studios now just use it as a common dumping ground - another outlet in order to recycle - and with little consideration as to what makes the format something special. It's a shame - and probably another chance gone missing - I guess we'll just have to wait and see.
Darren Allison
The Clint Eastwood Archive



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